Circle has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency [OCC] to establish a national trust bank. This marks a major regulatory milestone as the stablecoin issuer moves another key part of its USDC infrastructure under direct federal oversight.
The approval makes Circle one of the first crypto-native firms from the OCC’s latest wave of digital asset trust bank applicants to reach the operational stage. It also signals a broader shift as U.S. regulators increasingly integrate crypto infrastructure into the existing banking framework rather than creating a separate regime for digital assets.
Circle National Trust to provide federally regulated custody The new institution, First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., will operate as Circle National Trust under OCC supervision. According to Circle, the national trust bank will initially provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for the company and its affiliates.
It does this while creating a pathway to offer custody services directly to a limited number of institutional clients. This includes banks and regulated financial institutions, depending on market demand.
Circle also said the charter is designed to support future management of the USDC Reserve. Thus, bringing reserve operations under federal banking oversight if implemented.
The company described the approval as strengthening USDC’s infrastructure through federally regulated custody. It also lays the foundation for additional capabilities as the platform evolves.
Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire said the approval represents “a defining step” in bringing blockchain infrastructure into the U.S. financial system. He added that federal oversight would provide greater transparency, governance, and confidence for institutions building on public blockchains.
Approval advances latest wave of crypto trust banks The announcement also places Circle at the forefront of the OCC’s latest push to bring crypto firms into the federal banking system.
In December 2025, the OCC granted conditional approval to a group of crypto-focused national trust bank applicants, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.
Circle has now progressed from conditional to final approval, allowing it to establish and operate its national trust bank under the regulator’s supervision.
The milestone reflects a broader trend in U.S. digital asset regulation, with crypto infrastructure providers increasingly seeking national trust bank charters to expand regulated custody services and strengthen institutional participation in digital assets.
What a national trust bank means Unlike a traditional commercial bank, a national trust bank does not operate as a retail lender or accept consumer deposits in the conventional sense. Instead, it specializes in fiduciary services, asset custody, and trust activities under OCC oversight.
For Circle, that structure enables the company to provide regulated digital asset custody while positioning USDC infrastructure within an established federal banking framework.
The approval also establishes a pathway for future reserve management under OCC supervision, reinforcing Circle’s strategy to expand regulated infrastructure around its stablecoin ecosystem.
Final Summary Circle has received final OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust, moving key parts of its USDC infrastructure under direct federal banking oversight. The approval advances Circle beyond the OCC’s earlier conditional approval stage.
Circle Internet Group secured final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today, to establish a national trust bank, a milestone that sent the stablecoin issuer’s shares higher and deepened its ties to the federal banking system.
The regulator cleared Circle to charter First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate under the name Circle National Trust.
The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL, said the charter places the new entity under direct federal oversight by the OCC, the primary supervisor for national banks and national trust banks.
Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary custody services for digital assets held by Circle and its affiliates. Under the business plan the OCC approved, the bank could extend custody services to a limited set of institutional customers, with a focus on banks and regulated derivatives organizations.
The charter opens a path for the bank to manage the reserve backing USDC, the largest regulated stablecoin, which would bring that multibillion-dollar pool under federal supervision.
National trust banks differ from traditional lenders. They safeguard client assets and provide fiduciary services, and they do not take deposits or issue loans. The structure aligns its digital-asset infrastructure with a long-standing model for holding client assets under strict fiduciary standards.
“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of Circle. He said federal oversight of the trust bank “sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale” and unlocks a phase of adoption in which large financial institutions can build on public blockchains with confidence.
Investors welcomed the decision. CRCL shares climbed as much as 14% on the day of the announcement, a rebound from a three-month low. Other crypto-linked names, including Coinbase and Strategy, posted gains near 5% this morning as bitcoin bounced.
CRCL shares have since settled to 5% gains.
Circle’s federal framework The approval caps a process that began when Circle filed its application on June 30, 2025. The OCC granted conditional approval in December 2025, alongside peers such as Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.
The final decision arrives as the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law enacted in July 2025, moves toward full implementation in early 2027.
That statute requires OCC supervision of large stablecoin issuers, and the trust charter positions Circle to meet the mandate while bringing USDC reserves into a federal framework.
Circle has built a record of regulatory engagement across markets. It received a BitLicense from New York in 2015, became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in 2024, and holds licenses in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bermuda, and Abu Dhabi.
The charter strengthens USDC’s role as regulated digital-dollar infrastructure for payments, settlement, and capital markets, Circle said.
Micah Zimmerman
Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.
OUSD’s announcement sent Circle’s stock into a free fall. But how much of a threat does the new stablecoin actually pose?
Posted July 10, 2026 at 1:05 pm EST.
The stablecoin world has a new entrant and its announcement has had at least some Circle investors shaking in their britches.
Circle’s stock fell nearly 19% last week as new stablecoin company Open Standard announced plans to launch Open USD, or OUSD, a stablecoin backed by nearly every finance giant you can think of, from BlackRock to Western Union.
It didn’t help that a report of Circle being delisted from several Russell growth indexes broke the day before. While Circle has pared some of last week’s losses, it is still trading below its price before the OUSD announcement at $66.65.
CRCL daily candle chart. Source: TradingView The market reacted poorly for a number of reasons. Open Standard’s partnerships suggest it is targeting the same market as Circle: compliant Western enterprise payments. But Open Standard, which will launch later this year and is helmed by Stripe-owned stablecoin company Bridge CEO Zach Abrams, isn’t just going after Circle’s target market; Open Standard is also trying to undercut Circle while at it
Unlike Circle, Open Standard says it won’t charge fees on redemption and minting. In comparison, Circle charges up to 0.05% on redemptions depending on volume. Open Standard also promises to give the revenue earned on reserves to partners, less a management fee.
So is OUSD “an existential threat” to Circle, as Coin Bureau founder Nic Puckrin put it?
In the rest of this issue, subscribers get:
A critical look at how OUSD challenges the two main drivers of Circle’s business Coinbase’s role in any emerging competition Whether the consortium model just might work this time The bull, base and bear cases for Circle What investors should be watching for the clearest near-term indication of what is to come for Circle’s business. Already a subscriber? Keep reading.
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Circle (CRCL) has received final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, marking a major regulatory milestone for the USDC issuer.
Circle gains OCC approval to establish national trustThe approval allows the company to launch First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate as Circle National Trust, according to a Friday announcement. The trust bank will initially provide federally regulated digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates while operating under direct OCC oversight.
“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the US financial system,” said Circle co-founder Jeremy Allaire.
Circle noted that the new entity will strengthen the infrastructure supporting USDC by enhancing custody capabilities. The company also plans to expand custody services to institutional clients, including banks and other regulated financial institutions, over time.
“Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence,” Allaire added.
Circle added that the national trust bank could eventually manage reserves backing USDC under federal oversight, a move that could further strengthen transparency and regulatory oversight of the stablecoin.
The approval follows Circle's initial application in June 2025 and the conditional approval granted by the OCC in December 2025. It also builds on the company's existing regulatory licenses across multiple jurisdictions, including compliance with the EuropeanUnion's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework and licenses in the UK, Singapore, Bermuda and Abu Dhabi.
OCC approval signals broader crypto banking shiftThe OCC also previously approved national trust bank charters for several other crypto-focused firms. In late 2025, the regulator granted conditional approvals to several applicants, including Ripple National Trust Bank.
It also approved charter conversions for Paxos Trust Company, BitGo Bank & Trust and Fidelity Digital Assets, with additional conditional approvals later issued to entities affiliated with Crypto.com and Bridge.
The growing number of national trust bank approvals reflects a broader effort to bring digital asset custody and stablecoin activities under federal banking supervision, providing crypto firms with a clearer regulatory pathway while expanding access to regulated financial infrastructure.
Circle shares rose over 10% following the announcement but have since eased to 4.2% at the time of writing.
The USDC issuer’s new bank will open by offering fiduciary custody for Circle and its affiliates, with management of the stablecoin’s reserves pushed to a later phase.
Posted July 10, 2026 at 2:07 pm EST.
Circle secured the last piece of federal approval it needs to establish its own bank.
Circle Internet Group won approval on Friday from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate as Circle National Trust.
Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary custody of digital assets for Circle and its affiliates. Under the business plan the OCC approved, the bank could later extend that service to a limited group of institutional clients, “focusing on banks and other financial institutions, such as regulated derivatives organizations.” Circle listed reserve management as a future capability.
“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement. “Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”
The charter caps a busy regulatory run for the company, which raised $1.1 billion in its 2025 stock-market debut and was an early winner from the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law that took effect in July 2025. Circle’s filing helped open a wave of similar applications from crypto firms, though Anchorage Digital Bank had held the only such crypto charter since 2021.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has argued the OCC should not grant the charters to firms she says do not qualify under the National Bank Act.
Related Listen: Why Any DeFi Protocol ‘Lives and Dies by Its Oracle’ and How to Strengthen Them
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL), a financial technology firm, announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to set up Circle National Trust, or First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. (“FNDCB”). The authorization will be an important regulatory milestone for a stablecoin issuer, which pushed the CRCL stock up by 10%.
Circle Eyes Establishing National Digital Asset Trust The latest feat puts its national trust bank directly under federal control and prepares for federally regulated custody and, eventually, management of USDC reserves. The new institution will initially offer digital asset custody services for fiduciary purposes to Circle and its affiliates.
The OCC-approved business plan allows the bank to expand those services, on an optional basis, to a selected subset of institutional clients (banks and regulated financial institutions) as demand dictates. Circle also stated the charter is meant to help with the future regulation of the USDC reserve and will be included in a federal banking system that aims to build transparency and trust.
Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said, “OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system.” He added that “Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”
MiCA Feat & CRCL Stock Update Circle filed an application for charter on June 30, 2025, and in December 2025 was conditionally approved, after which it has been expanding its regulatory oversight around the world. The company was already the first to get a BitLicense in New York in 2015, the first global stablecoin issuer to meet the EU’s MiCA requirements in 2024. Moreover, it is licensed in the UK, Singapore, Bermuda, Canada, and Abu Dhabi.
Following the announcement, CRCL stock surged in Friday pre-market trading, jumping 10.25% to $69.47 on Thursday when it closed 1.65% down at $63.01. The recovery follows 20% drops in shares over the last month under pressure from the launch of OUSD stablecoin and legal issues.
Circle's new OCC-chartered trust bank gives USDC federal custody backing, sending CRCL up 10%+ as it claws back OpenUSD selloff losses.
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Circle received final approval from the OCC to create Circle National Trust, a federally regulated trust bank that will hold digital assets for USDC and could eventually help manage the assets backing it. The approval gives Circle a stronger regulatory position as competition among stablecoins grows.
What's the Scoop?The Charter: The OCC approved Circle’s application to create First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate as Circle National Trust. Circle applied in June 2025 and received conditional approval in December 2025. The new bank will be overseen directly by the OCC, giving Circle a federal regulator for part of its USDC business.What It Does: Circle National Trust will hold digital assets for Circle and its affiliates and may later offer custody services to a small number of banks and regulated financial firms. It is also designed to eventually help manage the reserves backing USDC. That would place a key part of USDC’s operations under direct federal supervision. The charter does not mean USDC is government-insured, but it could make banks and large institutions more comfortable using it.The Stock Reaction: Circle shares rose more than 10% in early trading before giving back some of those gains. The stock had fallen roughly 20% after OpenUSD launched, as investors worried that its free minting, free redemption, and shared reserve income could hurt Circle’s business. That concern may have been overstated. USDC still accounted for ~70% of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume in the first half of 2026, compared with 25% for USDT, while firms including Standard Chartered and BNY have chosen to build on USDC. The OCC approval adds another advantage by giving Circle federal oversight that OpenUSD does not yet have.Open USD Is Coming for Circle’s Margins on Bankless
The newest major stablecoin consortium is offering businesses a better deal than Circle has. Will Circle be fazed?
BanklessDavid Christopher
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David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.
Circle shares vaulted more than 7.7% in Friday’s pre-market session after the company behind the USDC stablecoin announced it had received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a federal trust bank devoted to digital asset custody. The newly approved entity, called First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., will operate as Circle National Trust, according to the original report from WuBlockchain. For now, the bank will provide fiduciary custody services to Circle and its affiliates, but the charter opens a door that none of the other large stablecoin issuers have walked through yet.
From State-Level Trusts to a Federal Perimeter Most digital asset custody firms in the US operate under state trust charters—firms like Anchorage, Paxos, and others. A national trust bank charter from the OCC carries a different weight. It pulls Circle inside the federal banking framework, giving it access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and establishing a direct line of supervision that many institutional allocators demand before they deposit serious capital.
Circle’s move isn’t happening in isolation. The demand for regulated custody infrastructure has been climbing alongside the tokenization wave that saw $20 billion in real-world assets move on-chain this year, including a landmark settlement between Ondo and JPMorgan and Bullish’s $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti, as detailed in Blockchain Reporter’s weekly tokenization roundup. When large traditional finance players buy settlement infrastructure outright, a federally chartered custody bank from the biggest stablecoin issuer starts to look less like an experiment and more like a missing piece of market plumbing.
That trend is echoed in the staking market. Sui’s 18% surge earlier this month was partly fueled by a Nasdaq firm launching an institutional staking product—a clear signal that regulated custody wrappers are becoming the gatekeepers of institutional capital flows. Circle’s trust charter fits squarely into that picture.
What the National Trust Charter Changes for USDC Circle issues the second-largest dollar stablecoin by market cap, and USDC has historically relied on a network of banking partners—including BNY Mellon and Silvergate Bank—to hold reserve assets. A wholly owned national trust bank allows Circle to bring that custody function in-house under a single federal supervisor. That’s structurally significant: it reduces third-party banking risk, gives Circle more control over the composition and auditing of reserves, and potentially lowers the cost of operating the stablecoin.
The timing also lands in the middle of a bitter legislative fight over stablecoin regulation and the broader role of crypto in US banking. Traditional banks have been lobbying to kill key provisions of the biggest crypto bill in US history just days before a Senate vote, a story Blockchain Reporter covered closely. Circle, by securing an OCC charter, sidesteps part of that brawl. It’s already built something that looks like a bank—without relying on Congress to pass new legislation first.
What Remains Unclear The OCC approval is a license to begin operating, but it doesn’t spell out every service the trust bank will offer. The initial scope is limited to fiduciary custody for Circle and its affiliates, leaving out third-party clients for now. How quickly Circle expands that mandate—and whether it ever uses the charter to offer interest-bearing accounts that compete directly with bank deposits—will determine how the securities and banking regulators react.
State regulators have previously challenged the OCC’s authority to charter fintech banks, and a national trust charter for a digital asset issuer is likely to face scrutiny from state-level offices that see it as federal overreach. Even so, the market’s immediate response—a 7.7% premarket jump in Circle shares—suggests investors view a federal custody license as a durable moat, at least until the legal lines are tested.
For traders and institutions, the clearer signal is that the infrastructure for holding digital assets inside the US banking system is hardening. When a stablecoin issuer becomes its own trust bank, the gap between crypto-native and traditional financial rails narrows further.
AUTHOR
Max delves deep into the cryptocurrency realm, with a passion for altcoins and NFTs. Convinced of crypto's transformative potential, he envisions a decentralized financial future. Max's background in the financial sector grants him unique insights into global monetary systems. In his leisure, Max embraces the thrill of adventures and is an avid sports enthusiast, finding balance and rejuvenation away from work.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Circle's $USDC now accounts for just 46% of Solana's stablecoin supply, its lowest share in more than 2 years.
According to DefiLlama data, $USDC's share has fallen to 46.13%, while $USDT's share has risen to 16.42%. Other stablecoins now collectively account for more than 26% of Solana's stablecoin market, highlighting broader liquidity diversification across the network.
Drift Fallout Changed Community Sentiment The shift follows the April 1 Drift exploit, which sparked widespread criticism of Circle across the Solana ecosystem. After attackers reportedly moved more than $230M via Circle's Cross Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), many ecosystem participants urged DeFi users to swap $USDC for $USDT. Critics argued that Circle should have frozen the stolen funds.
When challenged on the decision, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company would not intercept funds without legal precedent, describing the situation as a "moral quandary." Meanwhile, Tether earned goodwill across parts of the Solana community after supporting Drift during its recovery efforts, strengthening $USDT's standing among many users.
Fresh Legal Challenges Add to Pressure Circle now faces renewed scrutiny following a July 8 report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. According to the report, law enforcement authorities in Wisconsin and New York accused Circle of refusing to assist in freezing or recovering $USDC linked to scams. Wisconsin prosecutors filed a criminal complaint alleging that Circle failed to comply with a court order requiring the recovery of stolen assets.
Although the complaint involves a single misdemeanor count, former FBI financial crime expert Karen Greenway noted that criminal charges against a major financial firm are highly unusual.
Circle rejected the allegations, calling the complaint meritless. The company argued that it lacked the technical ability to comply with the order and maintained that the Wisconsin court lacked jurisdiction.
Stablecoin issuers such as Circle also face pressure from a changing regulatory landscape. Polymarket now places the odds of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 at 40%, down from 82% in February.
Senator Cynthia Lummis recently warned that failure to pass the CLARITY Act could delay meaningful U.S. stablecoin legislation until 2030, turning what could have been a 1-year delay into a 4-year setback.
Solana's Stablecoin Economy Continues to Expand The decline in $USDC's market share comes even as Solana's stablecoin economy continues to grow at a record pace. During the first half of 2026, Solana recorded $1.12T in peer-to-peer stablecoin volume, up 72%, alongside 83.6M peer-to-peer transactions, up 37%. Active wallets reached an all-time high of 4.3M.
Retail transfers between $100 and $1,000 totaled a record $13.5B. Institutional transfers above $20,000 reached $1.07T, while micropayments between $0.50 and $100 climbed to an all-time high of $1.50B.
Circle has continued to expand its infrastructure despite a decline in market share. Gateway, launched in July 2025 and integrated with Solana in January 2026, allows users and businesses to access a unified $USDC balance across supported blockchains without manual bridging or third-party liquidity. The stablecoin giant recently reported that lifetime Gateway volume has now surpassed $4.5B.
Circle Scores a Major Regulatory Win Despite mounting competitive and legal challenges, Circle recently secured one of its biggest regulatory milestones. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval for Circle to establish Circle National Trust, a national trust bank operating as First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.
The approval strengthens $USDC infrastructure through federally regulated custody, with reserve management planned as a future capability, while placing Circle's trust operations under direct federal oversight.
Investors welcomed the development, sending Circle's stock, $CRCL, more than 15% higher to around $71 following the announcement before retracing to its current price of $66.
While $USDC remains Solana's largest stablecoin by a wide margin, its share has fallen below 50% for the first time in more than 2 years. With growing competition, evolving regulation, and changing community sentiment, the battle for stablecoin dominance on Solana appears far from over.
Read More on SolanaFloor Claynosaurz’s HEEBOO Studio Introduces $HEEBOO Fan Token’s Public Sale Through Metaplex Genesis
Solana Memecoin Traders Flock to RobinHood - Will it Last?
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest executed a notable portfolio shift on July 9, acquiring 217,896 shares of Circle Internet Group ($CRCL) at a cost of roughly $13.7 million, while simultaneously offloading 85,319 shares of Robinhood Markets ($HOOD) worth approximately $9.8 million.
Circle's stock closed at $63.01 on the day of the trade, down 1.65%, while Robinhood finished the session at $115.11, up 1.39%. In effect, ARK was selling into $HOOD strength and buying $CRCL weakness, a move consistent with the firm's long-standing approach of accumulating positions in high-conviction names during periods of price softness.
A Sustained Bet on CircleThe July 9 purchase was not a one-off. When combined with the most recent acquisition, ARK has committed more than $37 million to Circle within roughly eight weeks. Wood has backed the stablecoin issuer since its debut, purchasing shares on its launch day.
Circle serves as the primary issuer of USDC, a leading stablecoin in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Following its 2025 public market debut, the company's shares surged nearly 300% from their initial offering price before experiencing a significant correction, and the stock remains substantially below those peak valuations at $63.01.
The decision to sell $HOOD comes even as the brokerage has gained more than 21% in the past year, far outperforming $CRCL's 68% decline. Robinhood is on track for a fourth consecutive year of gains, even as Circle ended last year in the red and appears set to do the same this year. Despite that underperformance, ARK continues to add to its $CRCL position.
Why ARK Keeps Buying the DipARK's decision to purchase during the downturn aligns with the firm's established strategy of accumulating positions in companies it views as long-term opportunities during periods of weakness. The investment firm also actively adjusts its ETF holdings so that no single stock exceeds 10% of a fund's portfolio, meaning ARK rebalances weightings when the value of certain assets fluctuates significantly.
Circle's business model relies significantly on interest income generated from USDC reserve holdings, meaning declining interest rates would directly impact this revenue stream, a key risk to monitor as the Federal Reserve's rate path remains uncertain.
Sources:
MoneyCheck: ARK Invest Pours $13.7M Into Circle (CRCL) While Dumping Robinhood (HOOD) Stock
Stocktwits: Cathie Wood's ARK Is Buying CRCL Stock's Slump While Selling HOOD's Gains
The Block: Ark Invest buys more Coinbase, Circle, Bullish, Robinhood shares amid stock declines
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Binance Team 2026-07-10 USDC is an e-money token issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (https://www.circle.com/). USDC’s whitepaper is available here. You may contact Circle using the following contact information: +33(1)59000130 and [email protected]. Holders of USDC have a legal claim against Circle SAS as the EU issuer of USDC. These holders are entitled to request redemption of their USDC from Circle SAS. Such redemption will be made at any time and at par value.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Bitcoin mining company Cango will implement a 1-for-10 share consolidation.
Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG), a Bitcoin mining company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, announced that its board of directors has approved a 1-for-10 share consolidation in accordance with authorization from its special general meeting of shareholders held on June 24. All issued and outstanding Class A and Class B common shares will be consolidated at a ratio of 10-for-1, with each share class remaining unchanged. The consolidation will take effect at 5:00 PM ET on July 20, 2026. Class A common shares are expected to begin trading on a post-consolidation basis starting from the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on July 21, with the stock code remaining “CANG” and the CUSIP number updated to G1820C 110. Following the consolidation, the total authorized share capital will remain at $100,000, consisting of 100 million common shares with a par value of $0.001 per share. No fractional shares will be issued; fractional portions will be canceled and revert to the company’s authorized unissued shares, with no consideration provided to holders.
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US crypto concept stocks rose in pre-market trading, with Circle surging nearly 8%.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), U.S. crypto-related concept stocks advanced in pre-market trading. Circle jumped nearly 8% after the firm secured approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to set up its national digital currency bank. Strategy rose nearly 5%, Coinbase gained over 4%, and Robinhood climbed more than 3%.
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Ark Invest increased its Circle stock holdings by $13.7 million and trimmed its Robinhood positions.
Cathie Wood’s investment firm Ark Invest added to its holdings in Circle Internet Group on Thursday while offloading part of its Robinhood stake. Latest trading disclosures show Ark purchased a total of 217,896 Circle shares via its three ETFs—ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF—valued at roughly $13.7 million based on Thursday’s closing price of $63.01 per share. Separately, Ark sold 85,319 Robinhood shares worth $9.8 million.
Circle Internet Group, the fintech company behind USDC, one of the world’s largest US dollar-backed stablecoins, has secured final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to launch Circle National Trust, a federally regulated national trust bank that will oversee key parts of the company’s digital asset infrastructure.
According to a Friday announcement, the approval places the bank under direct OCC supervision and is expected to enhance the regulatory framework supporting USDC through federally regulated custody, with reserve management planned as a future capability.
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Circle National Trust will initially provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and affiliated entities, the company noted. Under its approved business plan, the bank may later expand those services to a limited number of institutional customers, including banks and regulated financial institutions.
Circle also said the charter is designed to eventually allow management of the USDC Reserve within the national trust bank, bringing reserve operations under federal oversight.
The OCC approval marks one of Circle’s most important regulatory achievements to date and reflects the company’s strategy of operating within established financial regulatory frameworks.
The stablecoin issuer has steadily expanded its regulated presence globally, including obtaining approvals under the European Union’s MiCA framework and licenses across multiple international jurisdictions.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Circle Internet Group has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank.
Summary
Circle secured final OCC approval to establish a federally supervised national trust bank in America. The bank will initially provide digital asset custody services to Circle and affiliated companies only. Future plans may include institutional custody and management of reserves backing the USDC stablecoin directly. The new institution will operate as Circle National Trust. Its legal name will remain First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., according to Circle’s July 10 announcement.
Circle National Trust gains federal approval The OCC approval places Circle National Trust under direct federal supervision. The regulator oversees national banks and national trust banks across the United States.
Circle has received final OCC approval to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., a national trust bank operating as Circle National Trust.
A major U.S. regulatory milestone that strengthens USDC infrastructure through federally regulated custody, with reserve… pic.twitter.com/GtThvFV5aW
— Circle (@circle) July 10, 2026 Circle said the bank will initially offer fiduciary digital asset custody services to Circle and its affiliates. It will not operate like a traditional commercial bank that accepts deposits and provides consumer loans.
However, Circle National Trust may later provide custody services to a limited group of institutional clients. Its approved business plan names banks, financial institutions and regulated derivatives organizations as possible customers.
The company said the charter could also support future management of the reserves backing USD Coin. Still, Circle has not confirmed when or whether the bank will assume that role.
Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire described the approval as “a defining step” in bringing blockchain systems into the U.S. financial sector. He said federal supervision would provide clearer governance for institutions using public blockchains.
USDC reserve management remains a future plan USDC currently operates through Circle’s existing regulated entities and reserve arrangements. Circle National Trust’s planned role would add a federally supervised custody layer to that structure.
Circle said future reserve management through the trust bank could provide more direct oversight of assets backing USDC. The stablecoin is designed to maintain a value of $1 through reserves that include cash and short-term U.S. government securities.
The company added that the national charter would align its infrastructure with the fiduciary standards applied to traditional trust banks. These institutions safeguard assets for clients but do not usually provide the full range of services offered by commercial banks.
Meanwhile, the OCC granted Circle and several other digital asset companies conditional charter approvals in December 2025. The group included Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets.
Circle had to meet the OCC’s pre-opening conditions before receiving final authorization. The company submitted its original application on June 30, 2025.
Approval follows wider US stablecoin regulation Circle’s approval follows the introduction of a federal framework for payment stablecoins. The GENIUS Act established reserve, reporting and compliance rules for approved stablecoin issuers.
As reported by crypto.news, stablecoin use has expanded across payments and settlement, with USDC gaining adoption among regulated financial firms and payment companies.
Circle said the charter supports USDC’s use in payments, capital markets and settlement. However, a national trust charter does not make USDC a bank deposit, nor does it provide federal deposit insurance to token holders.
The charter also does not mean Circle National Trust can immediately offer every service listed in its long-term plans. New products remain subject to regulatory requirements, internal controls and further operational work.
Crypto trust charters face banking industry criticism Circle’s approval comes as banking groups question the OCC’s decision to grant national charters to crypto companies.
The Bank Policy Institute considered legal action over the regulator’s charter policy. The group argued that crypto trust banks could offer bank-like products without facing the same rules as full-service lenders.
Other banking organizations have also asked the OCC to limit or revise its approach. They have raised concerns about financial stability, consumer protection and the legal scope of national trust charters.
Circle has maintained that federal supervision will strengthen its governance and compliance standards. The company also holds regulatory approvals in the European Union, Singapore, Bermuda, Canada, the United Kingdom and Abu Dhabi.
Circle became the first company to receive a New York BitLicense in 2015. It later became one of the first major stablecoin issuers to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework.
A wave of payment-focused developments announced in June has significantly boosted Solana’s position in the digital finance ecosystem. According to Solana Payments data, Mastercard has launched seamless stablecoin settlement on the Solana network and brought Solana into its machine-centric Agent Pay initiative. These steps in payment infrastructure signal that the Solana network is gaining visibility not just in crypto transactions but also in everyday financial use cases.
Institutional payment adoption gains tractionIn South Korea, leading payment provider KG Inicis reached an agreement to explore stablecoin payments across its merchant network, which processes close to 25 trillion won per year. MoneyGram has also begun staking SOL to participate in network validation while expanding payment services to over 60 million customers worldwide. These moves underline the growing interest among major institutions in integrating Solana’s blockchain for real-world payment scenarios.
As Mastercard rolled out 24/7 stablecoin settlement on Solana, institutions like KG Inicis and MoneyGram have also begun evaluating the network for their payment services.
Digital bank Toss Bank has started pilot testing stablecoin transfers for its 15 million users. SoFiUSD grew its supply on Solana by $200 million within just five weeks. The Solana ecosystem continues to expand with new offerings like the Canadian dollar-backed CADC stablecoin and Open USD, which is supported by a consortium of major financial institutions.
The addition of subscription and allowance features to Solana means that recurring payments, payroll, and invoicing can now be executed directly on the blockchain, eliminating the need for third-party apps. The platform also highlights solutions such as international corporate banking, digital prepaid cards, and crypto-based lending products that use wallet behavior instead of traditional credit scores.
Network data points to rapid growthSince January 2025, the amount of stablecoins on the Solana network has surged by 154%, reaching $14.75 billion. Payment volume has jumped 87% compared to the same period last year. Card-based payment transactions alone have totaled $420 million. Solana’s share in the cryptocurrency payments sector climbed from 5.43% to an impressive 10.1%.
IndicatorDataStablecoin supply$14.75 billionIncrease since start of 2025154%Annual payment volume growth87%Card payment volume$420 millionMarket share5.43% → 10.1%According to Birdeye’s data from the first half of 2026, over half of Solana’s stablecoin total is made up of USDC, now spread across 7.54 million wallets. For seven consecutive weeks, Solana has ranked first among blockchains in USDC transfer volume. Birdeye is recognized as a leading crypto analysis platform for on-chain data and market tracking.
Mini glossary: Stablecoin settlement refers to the finalization of payments using digital assets that are typically pegged to fiat currencies like the dollar. USDC is a widely used, dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle.
In the current week alone, the network processed 22.7 million transactions, equivalent to about one third of all USDC transaction volume. During the same period, payroll payments on Solana reached $1.6 billion, with peer-to-peer transfers among retail users totaling $803 million.
Key technical levels in focus for SOLAnalyst Celal Kucuker notes that SOL’s price continues to demonstrate resilience and retains its upward potential. He highlights the $77 level as a critical support zone, marking the intersection of previous price action and important Fibonacci retracement points.
Celal Kucuker assesses that if SOL breaks above the descending monthly trend established at the start of 2025, resistance areas at $145 and $188 may come into play.
Should SOL maintain its position above the downward trendline, the $145 and $188 levels are likely to emerge as the next resistance points. However, if the support is lost, the current bullish scenario may weaken, possibly delaying broader upward momentum in the market.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
The Ethereum Foundation's Protocol Support Team has been disbanded.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Support Team (EF Protocol Support) announced on X that the team has been disbanded. The group was primarily responsible for coordinating Ethereum protocol development, including organizing and coordinating core developer meetings, tracking Ethereum network upgrades, supporting EIP advancement, and operating the Ethereum protocol.
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The AI arms race has driven record bond issuance by tech giants, with six major tech companies issuing $182 billion in investment-grade bonds this year.
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A Walworth County complaint accuses the USDC issuer of defying a warrant to recover 381,235 stolen tokens, which Circle says it is technically unable to return.
Posted July 9, 2026 at 3:38 pm EST.
Circle is contesting a criminal case in Wisconsin that accuses the company behind the USDC stablecoin of failing to return cryptocurrency stolen from a scam victim, a dispute that surfaced publicly this week.
The case drew wider attention after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed it this week. Prosecutors in Walworth County filed a criminal complaint in April, alleging that Circle “did intentionally disobey, resist, or obstruct” a warrant directing it to seize 381,235 stolen USDC and hand an equal amount to the local sheriff’s office. It lists a single misdemeanor count, an unusual charge for a state prosecutor to bring against a major financial firm.
Circle moved to dismiss the case on June 30, calling the complaint meritless. In the filing, it argued that once USDC leaves its control for a third party’s wallet, it has “no ability to invalidate and reissue such USDC”, and that the court lacked jurisdiction because both the company and the tokens sit outside Wisconsin, in Boston. Circle also contends the matter is wrongly styled as criminal, since contempt subject to punitive sanctions “is not a crime”.
The case traces back to about May of last year, when a Walworth County man received an unsolicited text from someone calling herself Lenora. She persuaded him they were in a relationship, then got him to convert part of his savings into USDC and send it to a scammer, court records show.
A county court ordered Circle to freeze the tokens in August 2025, which it did by blocklisting the wallet. But a second warrant that December told Circle to invalidate the tokens and reissue new ones, or turn over the equivalent in cash, which Circle said it could not do.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the anonymity of cryptocurrency has left investigators outmatched. “The tools that are at our disposal are not keeping up with the tools the criminals are using,” he said in an interview with ICIJ, whose reporters reviewed the court records. The standoff echoes a letter New York prosecutors sent U.S. senators in January, which claimed Circle declined to freeze tokens without a court order and did not honor orders to return stolen funds.
Critics point to rival issuer Tether, whose software can destroy tokens in a suspect wallet and reissue them to law enforcement, effectively returning stolen money. Circle has drawn similar criticism before, including for declining to freeze more than $270 million tied to a 2026 exploit of the Drift protocol. In a blog post in April, Circle said it freezes tokens only when “legally compelled by an appropriate authority, through lawful process”, a stance it frames as protecting users from “arbitrary or politically motivated interference”. In the filing, Circle said it had also reached an understanding with federal prosecutors on a way to compensate victims.
Related Listen: Tokens vs Equity, Lighter x Robinhood – The Chopping Block
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
Circle has asked a Wisconsin court to dismiss a criminal contempt complaint. It argues it lacks the technical ability to comply with an order requiring it to invalidate frozen USDC and issue replacement tokens to compensate an alleged fraud victim.
The filing centers on the technical limits of USDC once it leaves Circle’s custody. While the stablecoin issuer says it can freeze tokens held in third-party wallets by blocklisting addresses, it argues it cannot seize, destroy, or reissue those tokens because it does not control the wallets’ private keys.
Circle argues it complied with freeze order but could not reissue USDC The dispute stems from an alleged cryptocurrency scam in which a Wisconsin resident lost more than 381,000 USDC. It was lost after the stablecoins were transferred from Crypto.com to a wallet controlled by an alleged fraudster.
Prosecutors say Circle froze the assets after receiving a court warrant, but later refused to invalidate the tokens and issue replacement USDC for the victim. This led to a criminal contempt complaint in April.
In its motion to dismiss, Circle says it immediately complied with the initial warrant by blocklisting the wallet address. It prevented the frozen USDC from being transferred.
However, it argues that the second warrant requires technically impossible actions. This is because the tokens were held in a third-party wallet outside Circle’s control.
The company says it does not possess the private keys to third-party wallets and therefore cannot transfer, invalidate, destroy, or “burn and reissue” USDC stored there. It also argues that it cannot create replacement tokens tied to assets it cannot first invalidate.
Company challenges jurisdiction and cites DOJ discussions Beyond the technical argument, Circle contends the Wisconsin court lacked jurisdiction to issue parts of the warrant. It says both the company and the property at issue were located outside the state.
It also argues that the contempt complaint omitted key facts, including its repeated communications with investigators explaining the technical limitations of USDC.
The filing also reveals that Circle has been working with the U.S. Department of Justice on a broader mechanism for compensating victims in federal investigations. According to the motion, those discussions have resulted in a general agreement.
Under the agreement, Circle could voluntarily issue replacement USDC following a final forfeiture order and a permanent blocklisting order.
Circle has asked the court to dismiss the complaint or, alternatively, hold an evidentiary hearing to consider what it says are critical facts omitted from the original filing.
A test of stablecoin issuers’ technical limits The case highlights an important distinction in how regulated stablecoins operate. Circle maintains it can freeze USDC by blocklisting blockchain addresses, but cannot directly control tokens held in wallets for which it does not possess the private keys.
The company argues that technical architecture, rather than policy, limits what actions it can take after USDC enters third-party custody.
If the court addresses those arguments, the case could provide further clarity on the extent to which stablecoin issuers can be compelled to recover or recreate digital assets held on public blockchains.
Final Summary Circle has asked a Wisconsin court to dismiss a contempt complaint, arguing it cannot technically invalidate or reissue USDC held in third-party wallets. The filing also discloses discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice on a voluntary framework for compensating victims.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is under increasing legal scrutiny in Wisconsin. Prosecutors accuse the company of defying a court order aimed at returning crypto assets allegedly stolen through fraud back to their rightful owner.
381000 USDC at the center of a fraud allegationAccording to court documents, a Wisconsin resident was manipulated by an online scammer to convert their life savings into approximately 381000 USDC, which was then transferred to a fake investment platform. Authorities later traced the movement of these funds and requested that Circle intervene to restrict activity on the stolen assets.
Prosecutors say Circle did freeze the targeted funds after the initial court order. However, the company reportedly failed to comply with a subsequent ruling, which demanded that the frozen tokens be invalidated and that an equivalent sum be reissued to law enforcement so the victim could be reimbursed.
Wisconsin prosecutor Thomas Binger explained that authorities’ tools are often outpaced by the techniques used by criminals, admitting investigators usually only identify stolen crypto once it has already become inaccessible.
Circle has requested that the case be dismissed. The company argues that the complaint lacks merit and asserts that it neither has the technical ability nor a clearly defined legal obligation to perform the actions demanded by the court.
The debate over stablecoin issuers’ responsibilities growsThis dispute has reignited the broader debate over how law enforcement can respond to a wave of crypto frauds and cyberattacks. With stablecoins like USDC, transactions can be settled in seconds, making it difficult for authorities to act in time. This speed complicates the intervention process when funds are stolen or fraudulently seized.
Glossary: A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency type usually pegged to an asset like the US dollar. Issuers can technically freeze, burn, or reissue tokens in circulation, but how and whether this happens depends on company policies and the legal framework.
Recently, prosecutors in New York also took steps against Circle, citing unfulfilled requests to freeze or return stolen USDC. These cases highlight the differences in how various crypto companies respond to similar law enforcement requests.
The Tether precedent and new debates for the industryTether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has announced that it has frozen about $4.7 billion linked to illegal activity. The company also reported more than $1.1 billion was restored through procedures involving burning and reissuing tokens.
Several blockchain analysts have suggested that Circle could adopt a similar mechanism. However, it remains unclear whether the company will choose to take such action in this case.
The verdict in this lawsuit could set a precedent regarding whether stablecoin issuers’ responsibility ends with freezing stolen assets or whether they are also required to take additional measures to make victims whole.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
@aave Labs has opened up the yield engine powering its own savings app to any business that wants to use it. The product is called Stable Vaults, and it is designed to let neobanks, wallets, and payment apps embed stablecoin earning without having to build the underlying infrastructure themselves.
What Stable Vaults does In practical terms, Stable Vaults takes the variable rates generated by DeFi lending and converts them into a more predictable return for end users. The operator, whether that is a fintech company, a wallet provider, or an exchange, sets the rate it promises its customers, keeps any yield earned above that level, and absorbs the shortfall if the strategy underperforms.
On the technical side, the product allocates deposited stablecoins across multiple yield sources, including Aave V3 and V4 markets, and handles liquidity management, capital allocation, and yield distribution automatically. It supports USDC, USDT, and Aave's own GHO stablecoin. Operators can also restrict access to approved users and configure different yield tiers for different customer segments, giving businesses meaningful flexibility over how they deploy the product.
Crucially, users do not need to interact with any DeFi protocol directly. Operating costs such as bridging and liquidity management are factored into the vault's overall yield structure rather than charged as explicit fees to the end user.
A growing market, and a direct rival to Morpho The launch positions Aave against Morpho, which has already built a meaningful foothold in the white-label vault market. Coinbase, for example, began offering a high-yield USDC savings vault powered by Morpho and Ethena in June and has already crossed $200 million in assets under management.
The broader context is that stablecoins are increasingly part of everyday payments and digital banking, and fintech firms are looking for ways to let customers earn a return on idle balances. Vaults have emerged as the preferred infrastructure layer to fill that role, moving user deposits automatically between yield strategies without requiring active management.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the aim is to make "predictable stablecoin earning simple to plug into any fintech application." The Stable Vaults infrastructure also underpins Aave's own consumer savings app, which is currently in test mode.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Aave rolls out vaults for yield-hungry fintech investors
Aave Protocol Documentation: Aave Earn Vaults
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Cathie Wood has said Ripple-backed OpenUSD may struggle to challenge USDT and USDC, even with major corporate names behind it, because stablecoin markets depend on liquidity, trust, collateral use, and daily platform integration.
ARK Says Stablecoin Moats Are Built on Use According to the ARK Invest CEO, stablecoins are like the monetary networks that evolve with increasing adoption by user bases, exchanges, wallets, and payment companies. She added that USDT and USDC have already established robust network effects in the crypto trading and payments space and DeFi.
In a research note, ARK Invest Director of Digital Assets Lorenzo Valente suggested that OUSD’s odds of supplanting the two biggest stablecoins are low. In his blog post “Why USDT and USDC are harder to kill than crypto Twitter thinks”, Valente also cautioned that many market participants may be overly optimistic about the power of the OUSD launch.
Open Standard, led by Stripe-owned Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams, introduced OUSD last month. The stablecoin is expected to be released later this year and aims to reduce adoption costs by eliminating issuance and redemption fees, sharing the majority of reserves with participants, and establishing independent governance.
Over 140 companies in the payments, banking, crypto, and tech sectors have been associated with the project, such as Ripple, BlackRock, Visa, Stripe, Google, Coinbase, DBS, and OKX. Some South Korean companies, such as Samsung Electronics and Shinhan Financial Group, have, however, stated they did not have an official agreement to participate in the consortium.
OUSD Faces Questions Over Liquidity and Incentives Valente said stablecoin network effects are “not created by a long list of logos”. He said they are derived from liquidity, habit, collateral acceptance, market depth, settlement flows, integrations, and risk of causing disruption to systems that are working.
His analysis also challenged the notion that OUSD would be able to develop a new yield model for users. He said OUSD is expected to be GENIUS Act compliant, meaning it cannot directly share yield with stablecoin holders. He termed the model “reserve economics” and not paying end-users.
Valente said that Binance serves as a prime case in point that exchanges might choose not to change forks when another stablecoin has a better reserve economics. According to him, Binance has approximately $45 billion in USDT, Bybit has around $4 billion, and OKX has around $9 billion.
He explained that USDT is still connected to the trading operation of Binance because it is used as a quote asset, a collateral asset, and a unit of account by traders. If they have “reserve cash” from another stablecoin, “it would have to be balanced against the risk that it would damage a bigger trading business”, Valente said.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, like ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, has also earlier defended USDC after OUSD was announced. He noted that USDC enjoys global liquidity, developer integrations, and regulatory compliance but doubted the viability of sending the bulk of the profits back to partners at a large scale. Allaire said that such a system could cause “starvation” of the infrastructure.
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Stablecoin issuer Circle has come under scrutiny from US prosecutors over allegations that it has resisted court orders and law enforcement requests aimed at recovering crypto stolen through scams, according to officials in Wisconsin and New York.
The dispute centers on a Wisconsin fraud case in which Circle froze approximately 381,000 USDC but later declined to comply with a court order directing it to invalidate those tokens and issue replacements to law enforcement.
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Circle has denied wrongdoing, arguing it lacked the technical ability to carry out the order, that the complaint should be dismissed, and that prosecutors failed to pursue alternative solutions.
Law enforcement officials say the case underscores the growing challenge of combating crypto-enabled fraud, as funds can be transferred across blockchains before courts can intervene.
Prosecutors have also questioned Circle’s policy of freezing assets only through a formal legal process, while industry experts argue the company could implement technology similar to rival Tether’s system for burning and reissuing stolen tokens.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said the firm’s research views stablecoins as monetary networks that become stronger as adoption grows, driven by trust, collateral use and integration across financial platforms.
Wood said those network effects have helped Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC establish dominant positions in the stablecoin market.
Referring to research by Director of Digital Assets at Arc Invest, Lorenzo Valente, she said newer entrants such as Open USD (OUSD) are unlikely to overtake market leaders.
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In @ARKInvest’s view, stablecoins are monetary networks with effects that compound over time, thanks to trust, collateral utility, and integrations. The network effects of USDT and USDC have been powerful. @LorenzoARK explains convincingly why OUSD is unlikely to displace them. https://t.co/qEUimwpsiK
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) July 9, 2026
Open Standard, led by Stripe-owned Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams, introduced OUSD late last month.
The stablecoin is supported by more than 140 companies, though Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group and other South Korean companies said they never formally agreed to participate in the consortium.
Launch backers like BlackRock, Visa, Stripe, Google, Coinbase and DBS said the initiative aims to lower the cost of stablecoin adoption by removing issuance and redemption fees, sharing most reserve income with participants and establishing independent governance. OUSD is expected to launch later this year and is intended to reduce reliance on centralized issuers while expanding institutional access.
The announcement comes as competition in the stablecoin market intensifies. The sector has grown to nearly $308 billion, and major payments companies have stepped up investment through acquisitions and new blockchain-based settlement services.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
This is a general announcement. Products and services referred to here may not be available in your region. Terms and conditions apply. Fellow Binancians, Binance Pool is excited to celebrate Binance 9th Year Anniversary (9YA) with an exclusive campaign for our miners*. Mine BTC, BCH, LTC & ETC on Binance Pool during the Promotion Period and share 4,000 USDC rewards! Promotion Period: 2026-07-10 00:00 (UTC) to 2026-08-09 23:59 (UTC) How to Participate: During the Promotion Period, eligible miners can complete the following steps to participate and qualify for both Reward Pools A and B: Complete identity verification (KYC).Mine BTC/BCH/LTC/ETC on Binance Pool with a verified mining account.Increase your average hashrate compared to your baseline period*.Eligible users will be ranked by Hashrate Gain within their respective groups. Refer to the BTC mining FAQ and the Activity Terms below for more information. This Promotion is open to all eligible Binance Pool users during the Promotion Period, including existing and new users*. Reward Pool A: 9 USDC Welcome – New Miner Bonus During the Promotion Period, eligible new miners* who maintain the minimum Average Daily Hashrate for their respective token will each receive 9 USDC, as per the table below: TokenMin. Avg Daily HashrateReward per Eligible UserNo. of Eligible UserReward PoolBTC≥ 150 TH/s9 USDC100900 USDCBCH≥ 200 TH/s9 USDC25225 USDCLTC≥ 30 GH/s9 USDC25225 USDCETC≥ 20 GH/s9 USDC20180 USDC Note: *New miners are defined as users who have not registered a Binance Pool mining account before 2026-07-10 00:00 (UTC).Average Daily Hashrate = (User's Hashrate × Number of Days Mined) / 31 daysThe calculation is based on the full 31-day Promotion Period regardless of when a user begins mining. Users who start later will have a lower average daily hashrate.Rewards are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Reward Pool B: BTC Hashrate Leaderboard Eligible users will be placed into a reward group based on their BTC Hashrate Gain (TH/s) during the Promotion Period. Within each group, the top 5 users with the highest BTC Hashrate Gain during the Promotion Period will receive rewards: GroupIndividual BTC Hashrate Gain During Promotion Period (TH/S)Rewards per Eligible User150 < Individual Hashrate Gain ≤ 2509 USDC each2250 < Individual Hashrate Gain ≤ 50019 USDC each3500 < Individual Hashrate Gain ≤ 1,00029 USDC each41,000 < Individual Hashrate Gain ≤ 4,00039 USDC each54,000 < Individual Hashrate Gain ≤ 9,00099 USDC each6> 9,000299 USDC each Note: *If two or more users have the same Hashrate Gain within a group, rankings will be determined by the higher campaign average hashrate. Hashrate Gain Calculation: Hashrate gain is calculated based on each eligible user’s average hashrate:Campaign Average Hashrate: The user’s average BTC hashrate during the Promotion Period.Baseline Average Hashrate: The user’s average BTC hashrate from 2026-06-09 00:00 (UTC) to 2026-07-09 23:59 (UTC).Hashrate Gain (TH/s) = Campaign Average Hashrate − Baseline Average Hashrate*If a user had no BTC hashrate during the baseline period, their Baseline Average Hashrate will be treated as 0. Join the Promotion Now! Terms and Conditions: These terms and conditions (“Activity Terms”) govern users’ participation in the activity above (“Activity”). By participating in this Activity, users agree to these Activity Terms, and the following additional terms: (a) Binance Terms and Conditions for Prize Promotions; (b) Binance Terms of Use; and (c) Binance Privacy Notice; all of which are incorporated by reference into these terms and conditions. In the case of any inconsistency or conflict between these Activity Terms, and any other incorporated terms, the provisions of these Activity Terms shall prevail, followed by the following in this order of precedence, and to the extent of such conflict: (a) Binance Terms and Conditions for Prize Promotions; (b) Binance Terms of Use; and (c) Binance Privacy Notice.This activity may not be available in your region. Users are responsible for informing themselves about and observing any restrictions and/or requirements imposed with respect to the access to and use of Binance services in each country from which the services are accessed. Eligible users must be logged in to their verified Binance accounts whilst meeting the aforementioned criteria during the Promotion Period in order for their participation to be counted as valid. Users must have their accounts verified to be eligible for any rewards.This Promotion is not open to Binance VIP users.Users benefiting from any fee discount, rebate, or preferential fee arrangement are not eligible for this Promotion. The standard fee rate is 4%.The results dashboard will be published within 14 working days after the Promotion Period ends, displaying the final rankings and reward distribution details.USDC token rewards will be distributed to eligible users’ Spot Accounts within 14 working days after the Promotion ends.Binance reserves the right to disqualify a user’s reward eligibility if the account is involved in any dishonest behavior (e.g., wash trading, illegally bulk account registrations/logins, self dealing, or market manipulation). Binance further reserves the right to disqualify any participants who tamper with Binance program code, or interfere with the operation of Binance program code with other software.At Binance's sole discretion, user participation will be considered without effect and users will automatically be excluded, disqualified and prevented from accumulating benefits, in cases where it is identified: Any violations of Binance's Terms of Use and its Compliance Policies, as well as attempted or proven fraud, human and/or through the use of technology; Manipulation of results or failure to fulfill the requirements and provisions set forth in these Activity Terms; Completion, by the user, of incorrect, outdated, mistaken information or filled with untrue information, and may also be liable for the crime of ideological or documental falsehood; Registrations and participations for which any technological means have been used or there are indications of their use, whether electronic, computerized, digital, robotic, repetitive, automatic, mechanical and/or analogous, with the intention of automatic and/or repetitive reproduction of registrations, identical or not, which will also result in the nullity of all registrations and participations made by the user who has used one of the aforementioned means or for one of the aforementioned purposes, even if not all registrations or participations have resulted from the use of such means and/or were carried out with such purpose.Binance reserves the right at any time in its sole and absolute discretion to determine and/or amend or vary these terms and conditions without prior notice, including but not limited to canceling, extending, terminating, or suspending these activities, the eligibility terms and criteria, the selection and number of winners, and the timing of any act to be done, and all Participants shall be bound by these amendments.There may be discrepancies between this original content in English and any translated versions. Please refer to the original English version for the most accurate information, in case any discrepancies arise. Thank you for your support! Binance Team 2026-07-09 USDC is an e-money token issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (https://www.circle.com/). USDC’s whitepaper is available here. You may contact Circle using the following contact information: +33(1)59000130 and [email protected]. Holders of USDC have a legal claim against Circle SAS as the EU issuer of USDC. These holders are entitled to request redemption of their USDC from Circle SAS. Such redemption will be made at any time and at par value.
Crypto-related stocks in U.S. markets continued their rally during trading hours, with MARA surging 15.27%.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), US-listed crypto-related stocks continued to strengthen during intraday trading. Details: Strategy (MSTR) rose 2.11%; Circle (CRCL) gained 0.83%; MARA Holdings (MARA) surged 15.27% after announcing the acquisition of a Texas-based 2000MW computing power park project company for up to $600 million; Riot Platforms (RIOT) climbed 6.1%.
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JPMorgan: The biggest risk for Bitcoin is not Strategy’s sell-off, but blockchain adoption that bypasses public chains and tokens.
JPMorgan Chase’s analyst team noted that the market views Strategy’s Bitcoin sale plan as a key risk for the crypto sector, but it is not a major structural threat to Bitcoin. The more fundamental risk lies in tokenization, payments, and settlements increasingly taking place on permissioned infrastructure that does not rely on public blockchains. If this trend continues, the entire crypto ecosystem could face a "structural downgrade"—marked by slower transaction activity, reduced liquidity, and weaker capital inflows—ultimately weighing on Bitcoin. The analysts stated bluntly: "In our view, a more significant risk stems from the way blockchain is adopted in traditional finance, which continues to bypass public, permissionless networks." The analysts explained that institutional adoption so far has clearly favored permissioned chains, as they offer advantages in privacy, KYC/AML controls, governance, throughput, legal accountability, and regulatory certainty, posing a competitive threat to public blockchains like Ethereum. If tokenized deposits are widely adopted—especially in non-transferable forms favored by regulators—it could reduce demand for stablecoins in institutional payments and settlements; SWIFT’s blockchain initiative and central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects such as the digital euro and digital renminbi further strengthen regulated alternatives. In the roughly $500 billion tokenized real-world assets market, while Ethereum currently holds a certain share, this likely reflects early-stage experimentation rather than the market’s long-term structure. As institutional adoption grows, issuance, custody, settlement, and lifecycle management will likely be conducted more on private or permissioned infrastructure that meets requirements for identity, confidentiality, and operational resilience, with public blockchains used only for distribution and limited secondary trading.
40 minutes ago
Security Warning: Abnormal on-chain fund flows detected for the CodexField project on BNB Chain.
On-chain investigator Specter has issued a community security alert, warning of potential fund misappropriation risks associated with the CodexField project on BNB Chain. On-chain tracking shows the project has amassed over $85 million in funds. Specter detected abnormal on-chain fund flows yesterday: a wallet bridged 17.3 million USDT from TRON to Ethereum, then swapped the tokens for DAI via Bitget Swap on Polygon. So far, $6.5 million has been transferred out, while the remaining $10.8 million is still in transit. The funds were originally bridged from Ethereum to TRON roughly six months ago, and the source wallet is linked to CodexField’s deposit contract. Below are key addresses for users to verify on their own: EVM: 0xBc606358910b3720d136F0d4Ce12b759C270747a TRON: TQNTEYadFVVQeobBtctSjurJ5RpfBsTmqh, TAzpg8L1WkkzCxxZk8TYnvaRYahehh52MK Related deposit contract: 0x9E6A75b546B65E7B9D34E2c9aB8Fe224B9aA52AA Additional red flags: The project requires a minimum $100 deposit for participation. Blockchain security tool Blocksec MetaSuites initially labeled the deposit contract as "Fake CodexField", but Specter’s follow-up investigation found the contract is actually operated by the CodexField team itself. The project uses multiple domains and subdomains to collect user deposits, and the team previously shared these domains via official channels. Its fund flow pattern is unusual, deviating from standard fund management practices: the project bridges funds across multiple blockchains, routes them through intermediate wallets, and ultimately sends assets to centralized exchanges. Specter noted that based on on-chain activity, the project warrants high vigilance. It advises all users interacting with CodexField to exercise extreme caution until the team provides a transparent explanation of its fund movements.
40 minutes ago
Post-quantum cryptography management platform QIZ Security closes $17 million seed round.
QIZ Security, a crypto posture and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) management platform, announced the completion of a $17 million seed funding round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures, with participation from Evolution Equity Partners, Qbeat Ventures, Singtel Innov8, and Qino Cyber Capital. The capital will be used to accelerate product R&D and market expansion. QIZ Security was co-founded by Ben Volkow, Lenny Ridel, and Itan Barmes; the team has years of experience in cybersecurity, enterprise services, and post-quantum transformation, with Barmes previously leading Deloitte’s global quantum cybersecurity readiness team. Its platform helps enterprises identify and assess crypto asset risks and implement remediation measures, and is currently applied in industries including finance, telecommunications, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. It has also established partnerships with Cisco, AWS, Google, CrowdStrike, Deloitte, EY, and IBM, among others.
40 minutes ago
Hyperliquid recommends that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) formally recognize that on-chain protocols are not required to register, and non-custodial wallets do not serve as financial intermediaries.
Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) and Phantom have jointly submitted comments to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in response to the agency’s request for feedback on whether existing rules keep pace with the evolution of financial technology, proposing to explicitly extend the distinction between "building tools" and "operating regulated businesses" to on-chain markets. The comments note that software engineers have been developing matching engines for regulated futures trading platforms for decades, and the CFTC has never classified them as trading platform operators. However, developers in the digital asset sector have long lacked such clarity, forcing many to opt for offshore development. The current CFTC, led by Chairman Selig, is working to address this gap and carve out room for innovation for fintech firms in digital asset and derivatives markets. The two entities put forward three key recommendations: First, explicitly confirm that merely publishing on-chain protocol software itself does not require registration — a factor often decisive for engineers when choosing where to develop. Second, establish a clear path for the CFTC’s registration bodies to operate regulated functions using on-chain infrastructure, enabling trading platforms and clearinghouses to replace decades-old legacy systems with transparent infrastructure. Third, formalize Phantom’s recent no-action letter into official rules, eliminating the need for self-custody wallet providers to apply for approved exemptions on a case-by-case basis. HPC and Phantom stress that self-custody and transparent on-chain systems can embed investor protection directly into technology, while regulated intermediaries retain responsibility for issues that technology cannot resolve independently. This approach will bring the next generation of financial markets within reach of U.S. consumers.
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Micron raises its U.S. investment plan to $250 billion, betting on demand for AI memory chips.
Micron Technology plans to increase spending on its new U.S. factory to $250 billion to meet the surging demand for memory chips driven by the global artificial intelligence boom. The move adds $50 billion to Micron’s previously announced $200 billion commitment to expanding domestic U.S. chip manufacturing, covering projects in New York, Idaho, and Virginia. The expenditure is expected to run through 2035, and will help the company achieve its target of producing 40% of its DRAM products in the U.S. within the next decade.
Criminal Complaint Against Circle Puts USDC Freeze Policy Under a Microscope
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Ahmed Balaha is a journalist and copywriter based in Georgia with a growing focus on blockchain technology, DeFi, AI, privacy, digital assets, and fintech innovation.
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A criminal complaint filed by Wisconsin prosecutors against Circle, the company behind USDC, has put an uncomfortable question back in the spotlight. Why does the world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer appear far less willing than Tether to help law enforcement recover stolen crypto?
An ICIJ investigation published on July 8 points to three issues driving the debate. Circle insists it only freezes funds after receiving valid legal orders, disputes claims it can simply burn and reissue stolen tokens, and rejects allegations from New York prosecutors that it profits by leaving frozen assets untouched. Meanwhile, critics say that the policy leaves scam victims waiting while their money disappears.
The case started with a romance scam in Walworth County, Wisconsin. A resident identified only as “Victim #1” was convinced to buy USDC and send about 381,000 tokens to what turned out to be a fake investment platform. After investigators traced the funds, a judge ordered Circle to freeze the wallet. The company did so without delay.
Months later, the court took the next step. It ordered Circle to invalidate those frozen tokens and issue the same amount of fresh USDC to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office. Circle refused, saying it does not have the technical ability to burn and reissue USDC held inside someone else’s wallet. Prosecutors responded with a criminal complaint, an unusual move against a company of Circle’s size.
Circle later asked the court to dismiss the case. It argued the Wisconsin court lacked jurisdiction and said prosecutors ignored alternative proposals it had offered to compensate the victim. Walworth County prosecutor Thomas Binger said the dispute shows how quickly scammers can move funds compared with the pace of the legal system.
ICIJ: Circle Faces Criminal Complaint in Wisconsin Over Refusal to Recover Scam Victim Funds
An ICIJ investigation reported that law enforcement authorities in Wisconsin and New York accused Circle of refusing to assist in freezing or recovering scam victims’ USDC. Wisconsin… pic.twitter.com/QZv7PNN0Du
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 9, 2026 The Wisconsin case is not the only one raising questions. Earlier this year, New York prosecutors told U.S. senators that Circle generally requires court orders before freezing USDC and has not consistently returned stolen funds after courts approved their release. Since stablecoin transfers settle within seconds, investigators argue valuable time is often lost before legal paperwork is complete.
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The Debate Over Frozen FundsNew York prosecutors also made a more serious allegation. They argued Circle continues earning interest on reserve assets backing frozen USDC, giving the company little financial incentive to return those funds quickly. Circle has not accepted that claim.
Blockchain researcher Yury Serov estimates that at least 119 million USDC is currently frozen. Those tokens cannot move, but they remain backed by reserve assets unless another process removes them permanently.
Circle’s technical explanation has also drawn criticism. Joshua Cooper-Duckett of Cryptoforensic Investigators told ICIJ the company could update its smart contracts to support burning and reissuing tokens held in third-party wallets. Circle did not answer when asked whether it could make those changes.
One detail from the court filings caught investigators’ attention. Circle disclosed it had already discussed a victim compensation process with federal prosecutors that involved permanently freezing stolen tokens before issuing replacement USDC. The company did not explain whether that arrangement applies outside federal cases.
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Circle USDC vs. Tether’s Model and the 30x GapThe difference between Circle and Tether is hard to ignore. AMLBot data shows Tether froze about $3.3 billion in USDT across more than 7,200 wallets between 2023 and 2025. Circle froze about $109 million in USDC over the same period, a 30 times gap by value.
Part of that difference comes from Tether’s burn and reissue process. After freezing stolen USDT, the company can destroy those tokens and issue clean replacements to law enforcement or victims.
Tether says it has already reissued around $1.1 billion and frozen $4.7 billion linked to illicit activity. Circle does not currently offer the same public process for third-party wallets, although its court filings show it has discussed similar arrangements with federal authorities.
The companies also draw the line in different places. Tether has said it sometimes acts before courts become involved if law enforcement requests help. Circle says it only responds through formal legal process, arguing that the approach protects users from wrongful or politically motivated freezes. Investigators counter that by the time those orders arrive, stolen crypto is often long gone.
Milwaukee County detective Scott Simons told ICIJ he has worked on more than a dozen cases where Circle either declined an early freeze request or where the court order came too late. For many victims, he said, the answer is simply that the money is gone.
Don’t Miss Out on Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop on ByBit
Ethena Labs just removed one of the biggest friction points in its synthetic dollar ecosystem. Onboarded mint users can now mint and redeem USDe using USDC at zero fees, eliminating the basis-point toll that previously ate into every conversion.
The change applies exclusively to whitelisted participants who have cleared KYC and KYB checks and signed Ethena’s Mint User Agreement. Everyone else still gets their USDe the old-fashioned way: through secondary markets, exchanges, or partner platforms like Morpho vaults.
What actually changed and why it matters Before this update, direct minting and redemption of USDe was already restricted to vetted counterparties, primarily market makers and institutional participants. But even those approved users were paying fees on the conversion. Now that cost drops to 0 bps.
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Ethena has also indicated it will update fee schedules for transactions involving non-whitelisted assets, with the new rates visible on public dashboards. So while USDC conversions are now free, other collateral types may still carry costs.
USDe’s positioning in the stablecoin landscape USDe is a delta-neutral synthetic dollar built on Ethereum, which means it maintains its peg not by holding dollars in a bank account but by combining crypto collateral with offsetting derivatives positions. The result is a token that tracks the dollar without directly depending on fiat reserves.
This makes it fundamentally different from USDC, which is backed 1:1 by cash and cash equivalents held by Circle.
Ethena’s integrations extend across both DeFi and CeFi. The protocol works with platforms including HTX for direct mint and redeem functionality, and Morpho for vault-based strategies.
What this means for investors and the broader market The restriction to KYC’d and KYB’d users is worth noting. Ethena is clearly threading the needle between DeFi accessibility and regulatory compliance. For institutions and compliant funds, this is a non-issue. For the permissionless-maximalist crowd, it’s another reminder that the biggest DeFi protocols are increasingly operating within traditional compliance frameworks.
A delta-neutral strategy is only as good as the funding rates it captures from derivatives markets. In periods of sustained negative funding, USDe’s value proposition gets tested in ways that free minting can’t solve. Investors eyeing this development should watch not just the fee structure, but the underlying health of the derivatives markets that keep USDe’s engine running.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has asserted that incumbent issuers will continue to dominate the stablecoin market. According to Wood, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC remain at the forefront thanks to strong network effects, leaving new competitors struggling to catch up.
ARK Invest’s outlook on stablecoinsWood has described stablecoins not simply as digital assets but as monetary networks that strengthen as usage expands. She noted that growing adoption enhances these networks’ value, highlighting how trust, collateral structure, and integrations with financial platforms have positioned USDT and USDC at the center of the market.
Cathie Wood emphasizes that as stablecoins gain wider adoption, they evolve into increasingly powerful monetary networks, making it unlikely that USDT and USDC will be easily dethroned by new issuers.
Referencing recent research by ARK Invest’s Digital Assets Lead, Lorenzo Valente, Wood underscored that despite mounting competition, the chances of new stablecoins surpassing the current leaders remain slim. Each new user, business, and platform partnership further reinforces the network effect enjoyed by the leading stablecoins.
This dynamic grants USDT and USDC significant advantages in trading, payments, and decentralized finance. Their broad acceptance and deep liquidity create high barriers for newcomers seeking a foothold in the market.
New entrants and intensifying competitionAs the global stablecoin market approaches $308 billion in size, competition is intensifying from both crypto-native companies and traditional financial institutions. Recently, several projects have emerged with a specific focus on institutional use cases.
One such venture is Open Standard, which has launched Open USD under the leadership of Zach Abrams, co-founder of Stripe’s Bridge. Open Standard is structured as a consortium of multiple companies working together.
Mini glossary: Consortium refers to a collaborative structure formed by multiple companies for a specific purpose. In the stablecoin sector, this model aims to distribute governance and revenue among a broader group of participants rather than a single firm.
The Open USD initiative aims to eliminate issuance and redemption fees, share the majority of reserve income among participants, and operate under an independent governance model.
The project has reportedly secured backing from more than 140 companies. Its goals include removing fees for issuance and redemption, distributing a significant portion of reserve income to contributors, and maintaining an independent governance system.
However, notable firms including Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group, and others from South Korea clarified that despite appearing on the supporter list, they have not formally committed to joining the consortium. This development has sparked new questions regarding the reliability and nature of institutional backing in emerging stablecoin projects.
Balance in the stablecoin market persistsAs payment companies and financial institutions ramp up investments in blockchain-based settlement systems, the stablecoin sector continues to expand rapidly. New issuers are attempting to enter the space through partnerships, acquisitions, and infrastructure projects.
Nevertheless, ARK Invest’s assessment suggests that established stablecoins may retain their leadership, given their vast user bases, deep liquidity, and extensive integration throughout the crypto ecosystem. The firm argues these factors further enhance network effects, making it increasingly difficult for newcomers to win significant market share.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
usdcAs crypto scams continue draining millions from victims, law enforcement agencies are increasingly leaning on stablecoin issuers to help freeze stolen funds before they disappear.
Now, that growing dependence has landed Circle in the middle of an unusual legal battle after Wisconsin prosecutors accused the company of refusing to comply with the court order aimed at recovering stolen USDC..
The dispute isn’t about whether Circle froze the funds. I did. Instead, prosecutors argue the stablecoin issuer stopped short of helping return the assets, while Circle insists the court demanded something its technology simply cannot do.
A Frozen Wallet Becomes A Courtroom BattleThe case stems from Walworth county resident who lost more than 381K USDC in a Telegram pig-butchering scam after transferring funds into a self custodial Ethereum wallet controlled by an alleged scammer.
Following a court warrant in August 2025, Circle blocklisted the wallet, preventing the stolen USDC from being transferred or redeemed. However, prosecutors later sought a second order directing Circle to either “burn and reissue” the frozen tokens into a wallet controlled by the sheriff’s office or compensate the victim with $381,235 in cash.
When Circle declined to comply, Wisconsin prosecutors filed a criminal contempt complaint against the company.
BREAKING: Wisconsin prosecutors filed a criminal contempt complaint against Circle after it declined to burn and reissue 381,235 USDC.
Circle froze the scam victims’ tokens immediately under an August court order; it says it cannot invalidate and reissue USDC held in third-party… pic.twitter.com/UaY1kRZCvp
— MSB Intel (@MSBIntel) July 9, 2026 Circle Says The Court Ordered The ImpossibleCircle argues the dispute isn’t about refusing to cooperate but about technical limitations built into blockchain infrastructure.
According to court filings, the company maintains it does not control the private keys of externally owned wallets and therefore cannot unilaterally destroy, transfer, or reissue USDC held by third parties. While Circle can freeze tokens through its blocklist mechanism, it says that capability does not extend to rewriting ownership on a public blockchain.
The company also contends that issuing replacement USDC or paying cash while the original tokens remain frozen on-chain could force it to back the same assets twice, creating problems for the stablecoin’s one-to-one reserve model.
Growing Frustration From Law EnforcementThe Wisconsin complaint follows broader concerns from state prosecutors over the pace of crypto investigations.
According to officials, stablecoin transactions can move across wallets within seconds, often much faster than investigators can obtain court orders. Prosecutors have argued that delays in freezing assets significantly reduce the chances of recovering victim funds.
Circle, however, has maintained that it freezes USDC only after receiving lawful legal process, saying the policy is designed to protect users from arbitrary or politically motivated interference.
The Ruling Could Shape Stablecoin Recovery RulesCircle has asked the court to dismiss the complaint, arguing Wisconsin lacks jurisdiction over both the company and the disputed assets. It also says it has been working with the U.S. Department of Justice to establish a federal framework for compensating victims through formal asset forfeiture proceedings.
If the case proceeds, the court may ultimately decide whether judges can compel stablecoin issuers to perform actions that blockchain architecture may not technically permit.
For Loading profile preview , the outcome could become one of the most closely watched legal tests of where judicial authority ends and blockchain code begins.
Story Ends Here
Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
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Circle walked into arguably the most important room in global central banking and made a case that stablecoin redemption isn’t a feature. It’s a right.
At the Bank for International Settlements’ 2026 Annual General Meeting, during a Financial Stability Institute special session on stablecoins, Circle laid out its philosophical framework for USDC: issuing the token is a regulated privilege, but redeeming it at face value is a fundamental user entitlement. With USDC’s circulation sitting at approximately $75.3 billion and the token facilitating payments across more than 180 countries, the pitch carried some weight.
Privilege versus right, and why the framing matters Every USDC redemption request has historically been honored at exactly $1. That might sound obvious for something called a stablecoin, but the history of crypto is littered with supposedly stable assets that turned out to be anything but. TerraUSD’s collapse in 2022, which vaporized roughly $40 billion in value, remains the cautionary tale that haunts every stablecoin conversation.
Circle’s framework positions USDC as the anti-Terra. Full reserves, monthly attestations, and a commitment to regulatory compliance under frameworks like Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
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Qualified institutional users access direct 1:1 minting and redemption through Circle Mint, subject to Know Your Customer protocols, established thresholds, and relevant fees. Everyone else transacts through secondary markets.
The BIS problem, and Circle’s answer The BIS has raised persistent concerns about stablecoins’ single-asset backing, their operational elasticity (or lack thereof), and the systemic risks they could pose to the broader financial system.
Circle’s presentation directly addressed several of these criticisms. The company emphasized that USDC reserves are invested in cash, Treasury bills, and regulated funds. Monthly reserve attestations provide a regular transparency checkpoint.
USDC operates across multiple blockchains. For institutional users moving large sums, the direct minting and redemption pathway through Circle Mint offers predictability. For retail users in emerging markets who might not pass institutional KYC thresholds, secondary market access still provides a gateway to dollar-denominated stability.
What this means for investors Circle’s BIS appearance comes at a pivotal moment for stablecoin regulation. The proposed GENIUS Act in the US would create a dedicated federal framework for payment stablecoins. In Europe, MiCA is already live, and Circle was among the first major issuers to secure compliance.
The $75.3 billion in circulation makes USDC the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, trailing only Tether’s USDT. Tether has faced years of questions about its reserve composition and transparency practices. Circle, by contrast, has leaned into the compliance narrative so aggressively that it’s now presenting at central banking summits.
Circle’s revenue has grown significantly alongside USDC’s circulation, but that growth depends partly on the interest earned on reserves, which fluctuates with monetary policy.
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Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
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The latest data published by Dune Analytics reveal an important fact: stablecoins are entering a new phase of their development. Indeed, USDT and USDC are no longer seeking to dominate the same markets. The former establishes itself as the reference for payments. The latter, on the other hand, consolidates its place at the heart of DeFi. Analysts therefore agree on one point: this evolution could permanently transform the crypto ecosystem. More details in the following paragraphs!
In Brief Stablecoins no longer engage in a direct war: their uses are specializing. USDT concentrates the bulk of crypto payments, with nearly 95 billion dollars in commercial transactions observed. USDC maintains its lead in DeFi, exchanges, and dApps. The Tron, Ethereum, and Base networks play a decisive role in this distribution. This evolution could redefine global stablecoin adoption and accelerate their integration into financial infrastructures. USDT Establishes Itself as the King of Stablecoin Payments The data compiled by Dune Analytics indicate that USDT issued by Tether reigns supreme in the commercial transactions segment. Just in the first half of 2026, it represents about 95 billion dollars in stablecoin payments (compared to only 14 billion dollars for USDC). This amounts to a ratio close to 7 to 1.
That’s not all! The Tether stablecoin also captures nearly 92% of the 48 billion dollars in inter-company payments (B2B) volume alone during the same period.
Crypto analysts agree on this: if USDT currently outperforms its competitors in the stablecoin payment market, it is mainly thanks to the success of the Tron crypto network. About 93% of Tether’s total circulating supply is indeed held in private wallets rather than on exchanges or within complex protocols.
Breakdown: USDT stablecoins primarily serve as an accessible store of value, cross-border fund transfer instrument, and direct payment method for international trade. This illustrates concrete adoption. More importantly, this performance shows that Tether is now establishing itself as the monetary infrastructure of emerging markets.
Good to know: in June, USDT briefly surpassed Ethereum in terms of market capitalization.
USDC Becomes the Preferred Stablecoin of DeFi According to the Dune analysis report, Circle’s USDC rises to the rank of reference asset for:
liquidity providers; lending platforms; algorithmic traders. Specifically, the data report a massive concentration of USDC stablecoins on the Ethereum networks as well as its main growth layer 2, Base. In June 2026, for example, the USDC transfer volume on the Base crypto network reached a historic peak of 2.6 trillion dollars. This is the highest figure of all token-blockchain pairs tracked by Dune.
Even more interesting! During the same period, this digital asset processed 1.6 trillion dollars in transactions on Ethereum.
But Dune’s analysis reveals another key indicator: financial velocity. On Base, USDC indeed records a daily velocity equivalent to about 20 times its circulating supply. This means that a single digital dollar unit from Circle is reused on average twenty times per day across various smart contracts, yield loops, and DEX.
Unlike USDT, USDC stablecoins circulate mainly within an ecosystem where capital is constantly reallocated between different protocols. Simply put, they primarily feed on on-chain liquidity.
Chart showing the velocity of stablecoins (Source: Dune) A Historic Concentration That Redefines the Crypto Market Structure The Dune analysis result confirms an important point: the stablecoin market is entering a maturity phase. The days when USDT and USDC fought a sterile duel are now over. Today, the two main stablecoin issuers no longer compete for the same market shares. They extend their respective monopolies over distinct territories. Thus, each asset gradually develops a specialization.
Note that together, Tether and Circle now control nearly 83% of a global sector market capitalization amounting to 315 billion dollars. This calculation is based on tracking more than 200 stable assets across multiple blockchain networks.
To summarize this reversal, Dune CEO Fredrik Haga declared at the ETHCC 2026 held in Cannes:
The train is now moving.
For investors, the evolution of the stablecoin market shows that several players coexist today by responding to distinct needs:
On one side, USDT establishes itself as the preferred asset for international payments, fund transfers, and daily settlements. On the other, USDC becomes an essential component of DeFi protocols, trading platforms, and new financial services built on the blockchain. The key indicators now include transaction volumes, token circulation speed, liquidity depth, as well as diversity of use cases. In other words, stablecoin adoption no longer depends solely on their size. It also (and especially!) depends on their capacity to respond effectively to specific needs within the crypto ecosystem.
This Segmentation of the Stablecoin Market Complicates the Task for US Regulators Signed in June 2025, the GENIUS Act creates the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. Thanks to this law, banks have the possibility to issue digital assets pegged to the dollar. The CLARITY Act, meanwhile, defines the intervention areas of the SEC and the CFTC. It was adopted by the Senate banking committee in May by a vote of 15 to 9. Since then, it has faced persistent resistance.
Three unresolved disagreements indeed prevented the vote before July 4:
ethical obligations; protection of DeFi developers; stablecoin yield rules. The Senate resumes activity on July 13, with about three useful weeks before the August recess. Without a clear framework distinguishing a payment stablecoin from a stablecoin massively used in DeFi, regulatory uncertainty could weigh on the entire sector.
What Future for Stablecoins Facing Growing Institutional Demand? According to the Dune analysis report, the evolution of the stablecoin market towards segmentation by use is probably just a stage. It could even intensify further in the coming years, propelled by:
the rise of digital payments; asset tokenization; the arrival of new institutional players. These are all factors that should reinforce differentiated uses of the main stablecoins.
That’s not all! The boundary between payment and DeFi could also be redrawn if new issuers target specific niches like inter-company payments or institutional liquidity.
For Tether, the challenge will be to consolidate its lead in payments while supporting the expansion of digital economies. For Circle, the priority will probably remain the integration of USDC into decentralized finance infrastructures and regulated financial services.
In any case, the split in the stablecoin market demonstrates the maturity of the crypto ecosystem. It remains to be seen whether the emergence of CBDCs will disrupt this perfectly orchestrated private equilibrium. Knowing that the latter are not unanimous either.
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Ariela R.
My name is Ariela, and I am 31 years old. I have been working in the field of web writing for 7 years now. I only discovered trading and cryptocurrency a few years ago, but it is a universe that greatly interests me. The topics covered on the platform allow me to learn more. A singer in my spare time, I also cultivate a great passion for music and reading (and animals!)
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
This is a general announcement. Products and services referred to here may not be available in your region. Fellow Binancians, We’re back on the Football Pitch! Due to the incredible engagement in The Pitch is Yours, we are bringing the Football Game back to our Binance Discord to celebrate the final stage of the challenge of the year. To mark this occasion, we invite users to join our community activity on Binance Discord. During the Activity Period, users can head to the dedicated Discord channels and submit a quiz for each of the football matches taking place throughout the campaign. For every match, users will be asked to choose the winning team before the match to start. Points are awarded based on the accuracy and how quickly submissions are made. The 180 highest-scoring users at the end of the campaign will share the prize pool of 2,000 USDC, distributed according to the reward structure outlined below. Activity Period: 2026-07-08 15:00 (UTC) to 2026-07-20 23:59 (UTC) How to Participate: Join the Binance DiscordHead to channel #football-matches to see the upcoming match quizClick [Submit Now] and choose your quiz resultYou can update your football quiz anytime before the match closesCheck your submission confirmation in #football-feedTrack your standing in #football-leaderboardJoin the football conversation in #football-discussion Points System: Every interaction counts. The more users participate, the faster users submit, and the more consistent they are, the higher they climb in the leaderboard. Here's how points are earned: ActionPoints per Eligible UserCorrect quiz result+10 pointsParticipate in any match (win or lose)+1 pointFastest and correct submission+3 points2nd fastest and correct submission+2 points3rd fastest and correct submission+1 point3 correct outcomes in a row+5 pointsMaximum points possible108 points Reward Structure: The total prize pool for the campaign is 2,000 USDC. A total of 180 users will be rewarded based on their final position on the leaderboard at the end of the Activity Period. Tier 1 - 1st to 5th Places: Each user will receive 80 USDC (400 USDC total)Tier 2 - 6th to 15th Places: Each user will receive 35 USDC (350 USDC total)Tier 3 - 16th to 25th Places: Each user will receive 25 USDC (250 USDC total)Tier 4 - 26th to 80th Places: Each user will receive 10 USDC (550 USDC total)Tier 5 - 81st to 180th Places: Each user will receive 4.50 USDC (450 USDC total) Terms & Conditions: Products and promotions may not be available in certain countries and to certain users. Content users see should not be construed as solicitation or advice to use any Binance feature. This content is not intended for users to which restrictions apply. Users are responsible for informing themselves about and observing any restrictions and/or requirements imposed with respect to the access to and use of Binance services in each country. Applicable restrictions will be applied to all landing pages in links included in our informational messages. Any participation by users subject to applicable restrictions will be deemed void, and such users will not be eligible for any rewards, prizes, or benefits arising from this promotion.These terms and conditions (“Promotion Terms”) govern users’ participation in the promotion above (“Promotion”). By participating in this Promotion, users agree to these Promotion Terms, and the following additional terms: (a) Binance Terms and Conditions for Prize Promotions; (b) Binance Terms of Use; and (c) Binance Privacy Notice; all of which are incorporated by reference into these terms and conditions. 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For all the talk about stablecoins being interchangeable commodities, the numbers from the first half of 2026 paint a starkly different picture. USDT and USDC, the two behemoths that together control 83% of the $315 billion stablecoin market, are no longer competing for the same turf. Instead, they are carving out entirely distinct domains.
According to the original report, Dune Analytics data compiled by Cointelegraph shows USDT processed roughly $95 billion in commercial payment settlements in the first half of the year. USDC managed a fraction of that, just $14 billion. The gap widens further in business-to-business transactions, where USDT held 92% of the market.
USDT’s Grip on Commercial Payments The Tron network remains the backbone of this payment dominance. It is the largest host for USDT, and on that chain, about 93% of the token supply sits in regular wallets rather than smart contracts. That figure signals a user base far more interested in moving money than in chasing yield. Low fees and high throughput have made Tron a de facto remittance rail in markets where dollar access is constrained.
USDT’s $95 billion in settlements is not just a vanity metric. It points to a use case that extends well beyond crypto-native activity. Merchants, logistics firms, and import-export businesses in emerging economies increasingly use Tether as working capital. The 92% B2B share underscores that when companies need to settle invoices, they reach for USDT.
USDC’s Deep DeFi Entrenchment Circle’s stablecoin tells a very different story. In June alone, USDC processed approximately $2.6 trillion in transfer volume on the Base network and an additional $1.6 trillion on Ethereum. Those numbers eclipse USDT’s H1 payment totals, but the activity is concentrated inside decentralized finance protocols. Liquidity pools, lending markets, and automated strategies on Base and Ethereum drive the vast majority of that volume.
Base, the Coinbase-incubated layer-2, has rapidly become USDC’s preferred settlement layer, reflecting how exchange-linked infrastructure can tilt stablecoin usage. Ethereum remains the institutional DeFi venue, hosting high-value transactions that demand its battle-tested security. Both chains are among the networks that consistently top developer activity rankings, a fact that reinforces USDC’s alignment with innovation rather than simple dollar transfer.
Network Effects Reinforce the Split The divergence is not accidental. Stablecoin adoption is sticky, and once a network becomes the default rail for a particular use case, liquidity concentrates there. On Tron, USDT benefits from deep integration with wallets and exchanges that cater to payment flows. On Base and Ethereum, USDC is woven into the composability layer of DeFi, where every new protocol deepens its moat. The rising tide of real-world asset tokenization only strengthens that position, as institutional participants overwhelmingly favor regulated, transparent stablecoins for on-chain settlement.
What remains unclear is whether either stablecoin can encroach on the other’s territory. USDT has tried DeFi integrations before, but its lower regulatory clarity has limited serious institutional participation. USDC, while compliant, has not demonstrated an appetite for the high-volume, low-margin payments business that Tether dominates. The market seems content with a dual structure, at least for now.
What It Means for the $315B Market Investors and regulators are watching this split closely. A stablecoin market that divides cleanly along payment and DeFi lines raises distinct oversight questions for each vertical. Payments demand anti-money laundering controls and sanctions compliance. DeFi raises concerns about systemic risk, oracle manipulation, and the safety of yield-bearing products. The intensifying stablecoin regulation debate in Washington could force a reckoning that treats these use cases differently.
For traders, the split offers clarity. USDT remains the go-to quote asset for offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer markets, while USDC functions as the primary unit of account in DeFi. The combined $315 billion market cap is now more nuanced than a simple number. It reflects two parallel financial systems, each with its own geography, user base, and risk profile. Whether that structure holds or collapses under the weight of new regulation is the question that will define stablecoins in 2026’s second half.
AUTHOR
Max delves deep into the cryptocurrency realm, with a passion for altcoins and NFTs. Convinced of crypto's transformative potential, he envisions a decentralized financial future. Max's background in the financial sector grants him unique insights into global monetary systems. In his leisure, Max embraces the thrill of adventures and is an avid sports enthusiast, finding balance and rejuvenation away from work.
Stablecoin supply is shrinking, and it’s becoming one of the biggest reasons behind Bitcoin’s weak price action. New data from CryptoQuant shows fresh stablecoin inflows to exchanges have dropped 31% yearly.
Meanwhile, the combined supply of USDT and USDC is also falling, reducing the buying power needed to support Bitcoin’s recovery.
Stablecoins like USDT and USDC, which are often called the cash of the crypto market are seeing its value shrink by nearly $3 billion every month.
According to CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr., stablecoin exchange inflows are now 31% below their yearly average, indicating that investors are pulling money out instead of bringing new capital into crypto exchanges.
The 30-day average of stablecoin inflows has fallen from $3.2 billion in mid-May to around $2.65 billion. Meanwhile, the yearly average remains near $3.86 billion, showing that exchanges are receiving much less fresh capital than normal.
On top of that, the combined USDT and USDC market cap has dropped from almost flat growth in May to nearly negative $3.2 billion today.
Bitcoin Is Losing Its Biggest Source of Buying PowerAdler says the drop in the stablecoin market is directly affecting crypto, especially Bitcoin.
“When more stablecoins enter the market, buying power grows. When supply shrinks, demand also weakens.”
And since mid-May, supply has been shrinking, reducing liquidity and making it harder for Bitcoin to recover. This lack of new capital has made it harder for Bitcoin to recover. Therefore, Bitcoin has seen a drop of about 19% in May and 20.5% in June.
The slowdown is also visible on-chain. Monthly USDT and USDC transfer volume on Ethereum dropped from about $2.84 trillion in March to nearly $1.5 trillion in May before seeing a small recovery in June.
Bitcoin Is Following A Pattern Seen During 2022 Market CrashThe current trend looks similar to what happened during the 2022 crypto crash. During the bear market, stablecoin supply dropped 34%, while Bitcoin lost around 43% of its value.
Today, the decline is much smaller, but the direction remains the same. But, the Stablecoin supply has slipped about 4.4% from its $321 billion peak, while Bitcoin has already fallen roughly 32% from its recent year highs.
However, if stablecoin supply continues to surge, Bitcoin could see a bullish rally, as more capital will flow back to the crypto market.
Story Ends Here
Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
Investment Disclaimer:All opinions and insights shared represent the author's own views on current market conditions. Please do your own research before making investment decisions. Neither the writer nor the publication assumes responsibility for your financial choices.
Sponsored and Advertisements:Sponsored content and affiliate links may appear on our site. Advertisements are marked clearly, and our editorial content remains entirely independent from our ad partners.
